Banks amp up security for Halloween season

FULTON - While mid-Missourians buy costumes and candy to prepare for the Halloween season, some bank managers are preparing in their own ways.

David Bounds, branch president for Exchange Bank of Missouri, said Wednesday he will be instituting a new rule - customers are not allowed to wear masks into the bank.

Bounds said the bank already has a rule against customers wearing hats or sunglasses into the building. This additional measure is just one more precaution to make sure bank workers know who is entering the building.

Columbia and Fulton banks who adhere to the mask ban say it is a safety precaution for employees and customers.

Bounds said if unidenifiable people enter the bank, "We don't know what their intentions are. We don't know if they are a customer that's coming in to conduct normal business or if it could be somebody who would actually want to try to rob the bank."

Bounds said he does not want masked customers to alarm other people visiting the bank.

Boone County National Bank already has a rule in place that says customers must show their faces. A representative said the bank will continue to enforce this rule during Halloween.